Posts tagged ‘Design’

I purchased ten geode slices quite a while back but couldn’t figure out the best way to mount them. I didn’t want to interfere with the beauty of the stone because they are gorgeous. I think this setting solves that problem. I soldered a sterling silver frame and added half round prongs to hold the stone. It’s simple, clean and allows light to pass through the stone. I’ve mounted three of the geode slices this way so far.

Look for this piece and a few others in my Etsy shop soon!

In preparation for the holidays on Etsy, I decided to design a jewelry collection. I suspect I’m also strongly under the influence of Project Runway since I’ve recently watched Seasons 1 and 2 of both Project Runway Korea and Project Runway Australia.

The mentor for Korea, Professor Kan Ho-sup, gave advice that stuck with me when I think about designing jewelry. Granted, I was reading subtitles but I hope they were close to what he said. I wrote down,

“A collection should show progression”
“Be compact”
“Connect, connect, connect” and
“Boldly throw out the things that need to be thrown out”

I thought I needed to work more like a fashion designer and create a mood board or inspiration board. I gathered up items that caught my eye recently because they fit ideas I’ve been sketching or thinking about. I’ll be honest. I usually throw stuff like this in a folder and never look at it again. This time,  I taped them to a piece of black gatorboard I had laying around. I used the blue painter’s tape so I can easily reuse the board. And voilà, my Fall/Winter 2011 Mood Board:

It took a lot longer to make than I thought it would. Plus, I was in the middle of prepping for a garage sale. (Garage sales apparently also take a lot longer than you think they will to get ready for.) I’ve stood my mood board on the back of my work table to use as a reference. I hope it will help me over the next few weeks. By placing some constraints on my designs, I think it will make it easier to get started. In any case, I’m excited about working on this collection now.

Next step > Consolidate and finalize the sketches I have in about 30 different places!

Ira Glass, of This American Life, gives such sage advice for anyone who makes things that I had to share this video with you. When you’re struggling with a technique, when you’re disappointed in a design, when you break a piece because you pushed it further than it was meant to go, ask yourself what Ira would do? And in your head (or online), you’ll hear him say, “”It takes a while. It’s going to take you a while. It’s normal to take a while. You just have to fight your way through that. Okay? You will be fierce, you will be a warrior, and you will make things that aren’t as good as you know in your heart you want them to be.” But as he mentions earlier in the video, the cure is “do a lot of work”.

I entered the Bride’s Pleasure MOJO contest at Jewelry Lessons. My For the Non-traditional Bride won the “E” (for experienced) category. What a pleasant and unexpected surprise! This was my second MOJO. The first time I jumped in was back in March.

The contest involved making a piece for a bride and her bridesmaid using at least one tutorial available on the site. I chose flowers as my theme. I decided I wanted to work in copper and do some metalsmithing. I would have loved to use silver but I wanted to make a statement piece. The bride I was designing for may not be demure but she is thrifty. (more…)

I’ve mentioned how excited I am about learning to do bezel and prong settings on Twitter. Thought it was time I shared a few of the pieces I’ve made in Dan Haga’s class.

This was my first attempt at a “real” ring and my first bezel set cabochon. I have been aching to learn how to bezel set a stone for years! I’ve read numerous books explaining the technique. But I was too nervous about it to try it on my own. I had enough trouble just soldering jump rings.

This was the fourth project I made in Dan’s class. I did a pair of soldered earrings and two different soldered bracelets before attempting this. Since I am an admitted beginner, I needed to learn to solder properly prior to trying a bezel.  One of the things I appreciate about Dan is that he selects the projects you do based on your skill level and interests.

I am so happy with the way this turned out. Plus, it’s a beautiful piece of amber.

The pendant at right was the first piece Dan had us co-design a bit. He gave us some parameters: bezel set a much larger stone (lucky me, he had another amber cabochon!), create a swing bail and attach the bezel cup to the piece with wire solder (we had been using paste). It was up to us how to design in the two pieces of hefty sterling wire that make up the base of the piece. He provided us with a few sample designs for inspiration and asked us to sketch. (more…)

Let’s face it. If you make jewelry, you end up giving it as gifts. The nice thing about that is people are generally happy to receive handmade pieces.

Here’s the necklace I made for my Mom this Mother’s Day. The large stone is a Butterfly Agate my silver teacher, Dan Haga, gave us to experiment with. It was huge and heavy but just gorgeous. I had not made a bezel this hefty before so I was a bit intimidated. Decided to jump in and give it a try in copper. I thought the warmth of the metal would work with the stone. I know my Mom loves the look of oxidized copper since she’s purchased several copper pieces at art fairs.

She also likes her necklaces long. This one is about 24 inches with an adjustable toggle. The wire wrapped beaded chain includes citrine, several kinds of agate, faceted smoky quartz  (made the copper bead caps for the quartz) and red jasper. It was quite a challenge to make the bail and bezel. I thought copper would be easier to bezel than silver since copper is softer. But it stiffens up and is very strong. I’m also still learning to solder copper so I was happy to have another piece to tackle.

I’m glad I was able to finish it in time for Mother’s Day. I would have shared this earlier but that might have ruined the surprise. My Mom lives in Michigan and is always poking around online.

Since some of my pieces offer more than one “wearing opportunity”, the Hornet’s Nest Crafters Etsy Street Team suggested I create a few videos to show you how each design works. Here’s the idea behind my “Look Look Look” necklaces.